Additionally, all foreclosure activity continued to decline.

ForeclosureRadar reports:

The time to foreclose has increased on a year-over-year basis throughout our coverage area, with the largest increase seen in Nevada where it now takes on average 319 days to foreclose, up from 239 days a year ago. California saw the second most significant increase with the average time to foreclose at 317 days, up from 261 days a year ago. The least change was observed in Washington where the average time to foreclose is 106 days, only slightly higher than the 105 days seen a year ago.

Foreclosure filing activity was down throughout our coverage area in June 2011, with fewer foreclosure filings in all states. There were fewer foreclosure sales, both Back to Bank and Sold to 3rd Parties everywhere except Oregon which saw an uptick in activity at the courthouse steps.

Arizona Foreclosures

California Foreclosures

Nevada Foreclosures

Oregon Foreclosures

Washington Foreclosures

“Generation Rent” and Inflation – TMTGM

More than 500 cities see more homes become rentals – USA Today

Just how out of line are house prices? – Macroblog

The Excess Vacant Housing Supply – CR

Housing Overhang Persists – TBP

Case-Shiller: Home Price Double-Dip Confirmed – HS

Built to Bust – Brad DeLong

When these buildings were constructed, they were expected to more than pay for themselves. But their profitability depended on two shaky foundations: a permanent fall in long-term risky real interest rates, and permanent optimism about real estate as an asset class. Both foundations collapsed.

Asian Investors Dominate Central London’s New-Homes Market for First Time – Bloomberg

The share of deals increased to 59 percent in the six months through April from 48 percent a year earlier, the London- based real-estate broker said in a report today. Most of the Asian purchasers were based in Hong Kong or Singapore, where residential property prices have risen to records this year.

California leads U.S. in ‘suspicious’ short sales – OC Register

In the “suspicious” transactions, a short sale is quickly followed by a resale for a substantially higher price, sometimes on the same day.

Fed Investigating Goldman Over Possible HAMP Mortgage Mod Violations – Yves Smith

The litany of “mistakes” made by Litton sounds typical for HAMP. However, the charge made against Litton is that the violations were deliberate. Litton is perceived in the industry to be better managed than most servicers, so it may be harder to pass HAMP program violations off as employee errors.

Troubled home market creates generation of renters – Yahoo

A growing number of Americans can’t afford a home or don’t want to own one, a trend that’s spawning a generation of renters and a rise in apartment construction.

Joplin Death Toll Inches Up As Search For Survivors Continues – Slate

The death toll from the devastating tornado that tore through Joplin, Missouri, continues to rise and now stands at least 122, authorities say. Another 750 people have been injured.

What happens when Greece defaults – Telegraph

It is when, not if. Financial markets merely aren’t sure whether it’ll be tomorrow, a month’s time, a year’s time, or two years’ time (it won’t be longer than that). Given that the ECB has played the “final card” it employed to force a bailout upon the Irish – threatening to bankrupt the country’s banking sector – presumably we will now see either another Greek bailout or default within days.

Why Bernanke will be forced to institute QE3 – MarketWatch

While Shostak concludes that the Fed is wary of price inflation (that they are causing) and that this will deter another round of money pumping, I think the primary motivation behind QE is unemployment, not price inflation.

Post-Foreclosure: Study Finds Mortgage-Only Defaulters Pose Less Risk – DS News

“This recession was unique in that certain consumers who defaulted on mortgages would otherwise be good credit risks,” said Ezra Becker, VP of research and consulting in TransUnion’s financial services business unit. “It appears their actions were driven more by difficult economic circumstances than by any inherent inability to manage debt.”

Why Are Republicans So Keen to Persecute Elizabeth Warren? – Yves Smith

Today’s spectacle had the Republicans looking like idiots who resorted bullying when their initial salvos failed to hit their target. Chairman Patrick McHenry came off like a an angry amateur, trying ineptly to play prosecutor by demanding yes and no answers to questions that were clearly setups or couldn’t be answered that simply. The problem is that this tactic works only if you have legitimate questions and keep your cool.

Another Republican, Trey Gowdy, tried this trick and when Warren patiently explained why a yes or no answer couldn’t be accurate, he simply got more and more pissy. Earth to base: you won’t find “pissy” on any map of moral high ground.

Greenwich’s Priciest Homes Languish With Four Years of Supply – Bloomberg

“Our market moves very closely with the financial markets,” Pruner, based in Greenwich, said in an interview. “Deferred compensation has totally hammered the over-$10 million market because people just aren’t getting large amounts of cash, and that market has traditionally been a cash market.”

Fifty-two houses in that price range were listed for sale as of May 19, according to Pruner. Four have sold this year and two are in contract. At that pace, it would take 52 months to sell the inventory, he said. If that backlog remains through the end of the year, it would be the biggest in his data going back to 2004.

 

The Federal Reserve’s Role In The Financial Collapse – HuffPo

In other words, the Fed was busy becoming a pushover, not a policeman.

“It was explicit in those years, if you worked inside the Fed, that you were partners with the banks,” said a former Fed official. “You were not adversaries.”

Mortgage Delinquencies by Loan Type – CR

U.S. Commercial Real Estate Prices Decline to Post-Crash Low – Bloomberg

Almost a third of all March transactions measured by Moody’s were considered distressed, meaning the properties’ owners faced foreclosure, had difficulty covering their mortgage payments or experienced other financial problems. It was the largest proportion of distressed property sales in the history of the index, Moody’s said.

The housing-retail link – MacroBusiness

Once the positive feedback loop caused by rising (falling) home values is understood, it’s easy to dismiss the common misconception that unemployment would need to rise before home values would fall. Rather, rising (falling) home prices tends to lead decreases (increases) in unemployment simply because of the wealth effects described above.

Day of reckoning for commercial real estate in 2012 – MyBudget360

Foreclosure flood may not have crested yet – MSNBC

If the national foreclosure crisis were a baseball game, we would be in about the top of the sixth. And we may have to go to extra innings.

Stripper Loans and Mortgage Smoking Guns – TheStreet

According the filings, the applicaton was for a “stated income loan,” which didn’t require the “adult entertainer” to document her earnings, but left the underwriters free to put on their thinking caps and voice any concerns.

U.S. needs to stop coddling sickly real-estate market – Arizona Republic

Economist who forecasts state finances filed for bankruptcy – Las Vegas Sun (ht Patrick)

The economist who helps predict how much money state government can expect to fund its budget has declared personal bankruptcy, telling the Sun he didn’t foresee his own financial meltdown.

As Lenders Hold Homes in Foreclosure, Sales Are Hurt – NYT

Five years after the housing market started teetering, economists now worry that the rise in lender-owned homes could create another vicious circle, in which the growing inventory of distressed property further depresses home values and leads to even more distressed sales. With the spring home-selling season under way, real estate prices have been declining across the country in recent months.

The Manufacturing Rebound Is a Myth – HuffPo

The bottom line? Fifteen manufacturing sectors, comprising nearly 80 percent of U.S. manufacturing output, produced less in 2009 than in 2000.

When Austerity Fails – Krugman

VIDEO: Saturday Night Live’s Amazing Strauss-Kahn Eurozone Crisis Opener – TBI

Peak Oil Has Shattered The North American Housing Sector – TBI

Consumers Come to Terms with Frugality – Credit Writedowns

Signs show strategic default on the decline – HousingWire

“We’re On A Fucking Roll, Dude”: The 1993 Profile Of Lenny Dykstra That Warned Us What Was Coming – Deadspin

Chinese Spreading Wealth Make Vancouver Homes Pricier Than NYC – Bloomberg

Banks have repeatedly tried to thwart the program’s actions, filing lawsuits and court motions to prevent officials from compiling evidence. Never mind that part of a trustee’s job is to investigate possible improprieties in foreclosures to determine if they are poisoning the bankruptcy system.

“We have faced consistent opposition by all of the major servicers,” Mr. White said. “We are currently facing 200 motions to quash our discovery requests. We also are facing upwards of 20 appeals either in district courts or in circuit courts.”

Those pushing back include Bank of America, Citigroup, G.M.A.C., JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, he said.

Demand for O.C. homes in mysterious 9% drop – Lansner

New York foreclosure backlog: ‘A totally different world’ - HousingWire

Before the affirmation rule, banks were filing roughly 850 foreclosure cases in New York courts per week. That rate dropped to 150 filings per week in March, a direct result of the affirmation rule, Lewis said.

 

Affordable rental housing scarce in U.S. – WaPo

What I Owe: The Financial Exploitation of Models – Dis

IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end – MarketWatch

Brilliant Amazon Reviews: David Lereah’s RE Books – TBP

I found the pages much softer than Charmin, though not as soft as Quilted Northern.

Put it this way. If the banks had to pay what they actually owed – from the registration taxes/fees they avoided by using the electronic registry system MERS to the money taken from investors in toxic mortgage-backed securities to the fees and payments stolen from homeowners via predatory loan practices and illegal foreclosures – they would probably all go out of business. That’s how much money is at stake here: the very future of financial giants like Bank of America and Citi and JP Morgan Chase is hanging to a very significant degree on the decisions of politicians like Miller.

As Consumers Cut Spending, ‘Green’ Products Lose Allure – NYT

“People are so freaked out by what is happening in the world,” she said, before loading her groceries into a Toyota Prius. Of green products, she said, “That’s something you buy and think about when things are going swimmingly.”

Sales in most consumer-products categories dropped off during the recession. But according to an analysis by Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, certain green products have fared worse.

Unfinished bust – Economist

Homes are 30% overvalued against the long-run ratio of prices to rents, the gauge used in The Economist’s quarterly round-up of global house prices. On that basis, America’s housing market is close to fair value, but a handful of other markets (including China and Hong Kong) are starting to look pricey. London’s hotspots are in part an outgrowth of this emerging-market demand.